College Sports Blog

Texas Tech dropped to 4-1 on the season with a 41-20 loss against No. 17 Oklahoma filled with mistakes and turnovers by the Red Raiders.

The Texas Tech defense, despite ultimately giving up 380 yards to Oklahoma, played adequately. The offense did not.

Missed opportunity at the close of the half got the snowball rolling

Oklahoma took a 7-0 lead on its opening drive, but the Red Raiders answered right back with a long drive of its own. Texas Tech then took a 10-7 lead with 14:22 remaining in the half.

Oklahoma responded with a nine-play, 66-yard drive to go up 14-10. The Red Raiders answered right back with a field goal on a nine-play, 54-yard drive with seven minutes left in the half.

Three and a half minutes, eight plays and 75 yards later Oklahoma took a 21-13 lead, but the touchdown could have worked in Texas Tech’s favor. It was still a one-possession game, there were three and a half minutes remaining in the half and the Red Raiders had deferred the kickoff to the second half — potentially a 14 or 15-point swing before the Sooners could get the ball back if Texas Tech played all of its cards right.

The Red Raiders started their pivotal drive at their own 23 and moved the ball down the field to their own 47-yard line, but quarterback Seth Doege threw his second interception of the game right to Oklahoma cornerback Aaron Colvin who returned the ball to Texas Tech’s 41-yard line with just under two minutes to go in the half.

It was a poor throw by Doege.

Colvin was leaping right in front of Texas Tech’s quarterback, coming on a blitz. Doege tried to throw the ball above Colvin and it went straight into the cornerback’s hands.

Oklahoma capitalized on the turnover with a field goal and 31 seconds to go in the half, 24-13. A two-possession lead.

Texas Tech got the ball back to start the second half and had an opportunity to cut the lead but with a fourth and five situation at the Oklahoma 36-yard line Doege was sacked for a loss of 10 yards.

Oklahoma went right back down the field and took a 31-13 lead.

On the very next Texas Tech drive, Doege threw a pick six, tipped by Colvin and intercepted by Javon Harris. It was Doege’s second pick six in two games.

Doege

Texas Tech’s starting quarterback very well could have thrown a pick six in the first quarter as well.

Doege faced pressure early and often, and the Red Raiders’ offensive line and running backs did a poor job of protecting him at times. But the quarterback also appeared to be throwing balls low because the Oklahoma defensive line got a lot of tipped passes at the line of scrimmage.

In the first quarter, in a 7-7 game, Doege threw and interception right to Oklahoma defensive tackle Jamarkus McFarland at Texas Tech’s own 17-yard line and he headed toward the endzone.

Texas Tech receiver Tyson Williams stripped McFarland and the Red Raiders recovered the ball at their own four-yard line. The Red Raiders scored the field goal to go up 10-7 on the ensuing drive.

Doege finished the night 22-of-26 and passed for a below average 203 yards while throwing three interceptions.

Tech failed to get pressure on Landry Jones

The Red Raiders saw what Kansas State was able to do against Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones and hoped to copy the Wildcats’ success in getting to Jones.

Texas Tech hardly got any pressure on Jones and the team recorded 0 sacks after getting four the week prior against Iowa State’s Steele Jantz.

Oklahoma, on the other hand, recorded two sacks on Doege and forced Texas Tech’s quarterback to make quick decisions by consistently sending a linebacker, cornerback or safety on blitzes. The Red Raiders frequently missed assignments on those blitzes.

What to make of Tech’s defense

Texas Tech’s defense ranked No. 1 in terms of total yards given up for two consecutive weeks. They won’t wake up tomorrow with the same ranking, that’s for sure.

But the Red Raider defense wasn’t bad either.

It gave up 380 yards to a great offense year in and year out. And when you consider Texas Tech’s sputtering offense, the defense didn’t get a lot of resting time from the second quarter onward and got set up in a handful of less than favorable situations.

The Texas Tech defense held Oklahoma to two field goals, four punts.

On another day, had the offense had a better day, holding Oklahoma to 380 yards and four punts and allowing two field goals would have been enough to defeat the No. 17 Sooners.

What to make of the loss

Don’t panic.

Texas Tech played by far its worst game of the season regardless of whom it was playing. The loss had more to do with the Red Raiders lack of execution than what Oklahoma did right.

Remember, Texas Tech’s offense was doing OK early in the game and the Red Raiders quite possibly could have gone to the locker room down 14-10 or up 17-14 if the offense’s wheels had not fallen off.

It is unlikely the Red Raiders will play that poorly offensively in back-to-back games. While competition gets steeper next week against No. 8 West Virginia, the Red Raiders match up favorably against the Mountaineers’ defense.

The goal was to make a bowl game entering this season and based on TCU’s situation, Baylor’s defensive liabilities, Kansas’ struggles and a potential wild card win against a team like West Virginia, Texas or Kansas State it appears the Red Raiders are on pace for the goal one way or the other.

Texas Tech’s lost Saturday could very well be the most frustrating of the season and it came against a team that was favored anyway.